Pokémon: Battling the Enemy Within
by super ario
Summary: Takes place during the Pokénationals. Discontinued, probably.


_Pokémon: Battling the Enemy Within  
Rating: M- just for safety reasons :D  
Disclaimer: I, do not claim to have any affiliations with Pokémon, nor does Wendy. We have written this story for fun. Alhough, if we did own Pokémon, that would be so AWESOME!! :)_

_Quick Summary: She's back. And, she's taking over the world. One body at a time.  
Ash and co. are invited to attend the Pokémon Nationals, where Ash will be competing with the best of the best. Along the way, they make friends, rivals, and get into trouble they'd never thought they'd be able to get into. This is an adventure you don't wanna miss! :p_

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Fourteen year old Ash Ketchum glared playfully at the blue-haired girl beside him. She stared back, a similar expression on her face.  
"You're going to crack any minute now." The boy whispered, breaking the loud silence.

She stifled a quick laugh but shook her head in disagreement. "No way, _you_ are."  
"Not gonna happen," He quickly shot back.

From another place in the house, they could hear their older, wiser friend Brock yelling out their names. "Ash! . . . Dawn!" They completely ignored him, continuing to stare at each other and trying their hardest not to blink. Dawn attempted to make Ash laugh, by making a 'silly' face, but he only gave her a flat, bored sort of look. She gave up the attempt, and stared into his eyes.

He gave her a serious face, as though he were seriously annoyed. "Lose already."

This made Dawn laugh, but she caught herself before she closed her eyes. "Don't be so confident, Ash."

"Guys, c'mon!" They heard Brock again, much louder than before. Again, he was ignored.

"How long do you think we've been at this?" Dawn asked the raven-haired boy.  
"I'd say two minutes..." He shrugged, not quite sure. He was just sure that they wouldn't last much longer. He could tell that she was desperate to keep her eyes open. Her eyes were watery, fingers tapping nervously on her leg. He squinted briefly, then turned his gaze around the room, at the surroundings before looking back at her. She was rather stiff.

He sighed, "You're going to lose. Just give up n-AHHH!" Ash's entire body seemed to jump as he fell off of the couch, surprised by the sudden touch of his shoulder. Brock was standing behind Ash, laughing almost as loud as Dawn was. _She _had obviously seen him coming.  
"You lost, you lost!" She teased, pointing at Ash through squinted eyes, as she continued to giggle uncontrollably.  
He gave her another annoyed look. "No, that's cheating. Scaring me half to death doesn't count."

The tall tan boy smiled, interrupting, "I kept calling you over to ask you what I should make for lunch. " Ash's frown automatically flipped into a smile, as he pushed himself off of the carpet. He beamed brightly, his mouth almost watering from hearing the words, 'food', 'what', and 'make' coming out of his friend's mouth. Brock bit his lip, thinking. "Sandwiches okay?"

Ash and Dawn nodded. Anything that Brock made was fantastic. Always.  
"Alright," He said, turning back into the kitchen. One second later, his head popped back into view. "Oh, Ash.. I think your mom was calling for you. She's out in the garden still."

"Oh, thanks." Ash turned to Dawn, quickly telling her that he'd be back momentarily, as she calmed herself down.

He went out into the garden area, where his mother was tending to some flowers with the help of Mr. Mime. "Ma?"

She looked up at him, and smiled wide. "Honey!" She quickly wiped the dirt off of her hands, and looked at her son. "Could you please go get the mail for me?"

He nodded, "'Course Ma."

"Thank you, sweetie." She said, as she watched him waltz away, still in his comfortable pajama pants. She started back with the flowers in a jiffy.

Once Ash reached the mail box, he slipped his hand inside, picking up anything inside. He pulled out a few letters for his mother, perhaps an electricity bill, and what? Another letter, apparently for him. He began walking back, as he tore the top of the letter and pulled out the folded paper inside. He unfolded it and silently looked it over, skipping a few words at a time. Something seemed to hit him as he read, and he immediately let go of the other letters in his hand, as they plummeted towards the ground. "Holy shit!" Ash's mother instantly looked up at her son's profanity, but hardly had enough time to yell, when she saw him almost tripping over himself as he stumbled back into the house.

He almost collided with the confused Dawn, once he arrived in the living room, waving the paper in her face. She looked over his expression a moment, then took the paper from his hand and skimmed over it.

"Read it out loud." Ash stressed. He wanted to make sure he hadn't gotten the wrong idea, and his hopes up, or that he was dreaming. She looked at him for a second, then began, "Dear Mr. Ketchum.. I am glad to inform you that you that you have been invited to compete in the Pokémon National Competition taking place in Anyo Town, located in the Hanjiu Region." Ash smiled. He had never been to the Hanjiu region yet. "If you choose to accept, you and your friends are welcomed to stay at the Grand Fromage hotel, right in the center of beautiful Anyo Town, free of charges. " Dawn's mouth almost dropped.

The Grand Fromage was supposed to be such a nice hotel, and she'd always dreamt of visiting the city, which was known for it's conventions, events, and of course the Nationals. Only the best of the best were competing.

"The competition will be taking place during the first week of August. If you choose to participate, please notify me by the 10th of this month. You will receive the official rules at your arrival in Anyo. Congratulations, young man. Good luck in your travels. Sincerely, Mr. Shunsuke Nagano." His signature was underneath. It was totally real.

"Ash..." she said, looking away from the letter."That's wonderful!

He could hardly breathe. This was his big opportunity. "I can't believe it....Is that really what it says?"

"Yeah, yeah." She said, showing him. He read it through once more, taking it in bit by bit. It was true, then. He, Ash Ketchum, was going to attend the Pokémon Nationals. And plus, it was in a whole new region they hadn't ever explored before.

Brock made his way into the living room, with a plate full of sandwiches, wondering what all the excitement was about. "What's going on?"

"Ash got invited to the Nationals!" Dawn said, cheerfully.

"The Pokénationals? In Anyo?" Brock asked, setting the plate down onto the table. Ash immediately reached for one, still wearing a smile.  
"Yeah! Isn't that great?" She asked, following Ash with the sandwich.

Brock nodded, clapping Ash on the shoulder. "Hey, that's awesome, Ash, Congratulations."

"Thanks, guys."

"Ash..." Delia Ketchum walked in, wondering what the commotion was for. "What happened? You dropped all the mail outside."

"I got an invite for the Nationals, Mom!"

She grinned widely, pulling him into a tight embrace. He struggled to breath.

"Honey, that's great! I'm so proud of you."

"I guess we'd better be leaving soon then, if we want to make it there in time. It's pretty far away."  
Delia stopped grinning widely, her lips twitching slightly. She hadn't had her son back home for more than a week, and already he was excited about another adventure. He was always so bubbly, and wanting to go places. She slightly frowned, but he looked so happy and she realized what kind of opportunity this was for her little boy.

"Where to?" She asked him, still a tad upset.

"Anyo Town," He told her, excitedly.  
She almost flipped over at the mention of that city. "Anyo?! You mean, the one all the way in Hanjiu?" In a way, she hoped that wasn't it. But, what other Anyo Town was there?

"Yep," He beamed.

"That's...far." She mumbled. "But, I reckon it'll take quite some time to get there. You won't get lost will you?"

"No, Brock has a map. We'll be fine."

"Oh... Okay." She hesitantly gave in. "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow! Let's leave tomorrow." Ash shot in, almost out of breath.  
His friends laughed at his eagerness, and nodded.

This was going to be an adventure none of them would ever be forgetting.

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_Please, review? -_-_


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